Do we always choose people that remind us of our parents? An interesting look a marriage & friendship. And how the past does not have to dictate our present.

Although a little lengthy, 'Chesapeake Song', is an excellent, honest story of love, heritage, and marriage. It depicts how your upbringing and adolescent environment capitulate many aspects of your adult life. This story will tug on your heart, and make you think. Read this book on a sunny day, at the park, under a tree, with a cool glass of lemonade.

On the surface, Tamra and Charles Lane seem to be living the American lifestyle. They were childhood sweethearts in Maryland and in spite of different dreams for their future, are happily married. Yet after thirteen years of wedlock and having children, Tamra leaves her spouse, not an easy decision since she still loves him.

Tamra looks to her heritage to help her finalize her decision. She turns to her own mother Virginia who left her own spouse, a school administrator. Tamra also looks back at the family powerhouse her grandmother who kept everyone together while the world collapsed around their family. Still, Tamra needs to learn what she can from her immediate female antecedents while Charles struggles with why since he feels he has given her everything she wants.

CHESAPEAKE SONG is a well-written character study that centers on how the lessons of childhood impact the adult as family patterns and histories repeat itself in each generation. The story line employs flashbacks to provide insight into the relationship between Tamra's parents and the influence of her grandmother as well as how Tamra and Charles have reached a critical fork in the road. Though not paramount to the main theme, but an added bonus, the audience observes African-American relationships over the last four decades. Readers who want action need to go elsewhere, but anyone interested in family dynamics will enjoy the insightful debut of Brenda Lane Richardson.

Harriet Klausner

I was attracted to this book because it is about the Eastern Shore of Maryland, my childhood home. After noting the author's name, I was stunned to find I had attended high school with him. Even more astounding was the quality and truthfulness of his depiction of a waterman's life. I recognized many of the characters and situations in the book from my own experience. If you enjoyed "Beautiful Swimmers" or "Chesapeake" for the unique culture of the "Shore" you'll enjoy this novel as well.

Tim Junkin's "The Waterman" is set on the Chesapeake Bay. I wanted to say that first to get it over. Everyone already knows it and, as I had suspected, most of the "customer reviewers" have addresses in the Chesapeake area. What a shame if other readers fail to realize the book is much more than, as the dust cover announces, "a novel of the Chesapeake Bay"

"The Waterman" depicts life in the region at that interface in time after Nam and before computers and cell phones. It is a romance, a mystery and a thriller--a story about a handful of young adults, lost in the pre-AIDS, mid-twentieth century looking back because they were unaware of their present and had no view of a future.

Junkin frames his Chesapeake snapshots with sometimes bright, sometimes foggy horizons. The backdrops are gritty textures and hues of sea grass, sweat, and brine. The foregrounds are crowded with dimly drawn young men feeling their muscles and sacrificing their skins and brains to youth, to the past, and to sun and alcohol. Meanwhile, dark and shadowy forces frame the future. The first 200 pages filled me with a wistful longing for those innocent days. The last 100 pages left me breathless.

Having spent a portion of my life on the Chesapeake Bay, this book was like going back in time for me. The descriptions of the area are the best I have ever read and the story is wonderful. A must read for anyone who loves the water and loves a good story!

Now in a fully updated fifth edition, Allison Blake's The Chesapeake Bay Book is a comprehensive and thoroughly user friendly: guide to all the great getaway adventures to be found in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland. Maps, indexes to the best places for lodging and dining, recreation opportunities by locale, and much more, enhance this superbly presented travel guide which is ideal for anyone planning a local day trip or an extended vacation in the Chesapeake Bay environs.

Now in a fully updated fifth edition, Allison Blake's The Chesapeake Bay Book is a comprehensive and thoroughly "user friendly: guide to all the great getaway adventures to be found in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland. Maps, indexes to the best places for lodging and dining, recreation opportunities by locale, and much more, enhance this superbly presented travel guide which is ideal for anyone planning a local day trip or an extended vacation in the Chesapeake Bay environs.

a college friend invited me to spend a few weeks with her in annapolis, but, when she got a job she couldn't refuse just before i arrived, i had to fend for myself entertainment-wise. thank heavens i wandered into a local bookstore and picked up this book. i didn't know a thing about the area. nor did my friend really. (i'm from texas, and she just moved there from connecticut.) but, with the help of this guidebook and a rental car, i wandered happily throughout the back roads of the chesapeake region. i found great little towns to stop in with its help, deliciously fattening restaurants to eat in and cool things to see. if you're a newbie there, i highly recommend that you pick it up!

In addition to telling you where facilities, anchorages, and other interesting local points of interest are, he supplies invaluable lessons only learned in the school of hard knocks. Valuable mariner lessons were included on weather prediction, inlet navigation, and other techniques tailored to use in the Chesapeake bay. The book was very well done, and I hope to set off on a cruise in the very near future.

This is a very comprehensive and informative book for anyone interested in finding those hidden away spots in the coves. the author has obviously been in every nook and cranny and has done a fine job of accomplishing what he has set out to do in authoring this book. The maps contained within should be used as a general reference only, as they do not provide the detail needed to navigate adequately. This is not a pictoral book and, as a result, has very few pictures.

If you cruise the Chesapeake, you must have this book. I have read non better.

Time-Life always does a good job. The illustrations are excellent and the text is quite readable. It lacks somewhat in analysis and detail, but one could do a lot worse in terms of an overview of coastal and littoral operations in the Civil War.

There are two volumes in the Time-Life series on The Civil War that are devoted to the naval aspects of the conflict. "The Blockade: Runners and Raiders" looks at the most famous naval engagements of the war, the first clash of the ironclads between the Monitor and the Merrimac, and the U.S.S. Kersearge hunting down the infamous raider C.S.S. Alabama. In "The Coastal War: Chesapeake Bay to Rio Grande" Peter M. Chaitin, who wrote the companion volume as well as "Brother Against Brother" in this series, details the Union struggle to dominate the shores of the Confederacy, which is highlighted by the Federal assault on New Orleans.

"The Coastal War" is divided into five chapters: (1) Invading the Inland Sea focuses on the amphibious assault on North Carolina's Roanoke Island; (2) The Fight for New Orleans is about Captain David Glasgow Farragut's assault on the daunting Confederate position at the key Louisiana port, where the Union fleet had to run the gauntlet between Fort St. Philip and Fort Jackson; (3) Stalemate in the Tidewater continues the assault on North Carolina coastal towns and the pivotal city of Goldsboro, which deteriorated into a desultory stalemate; (4) Charleston under the Gun tells of a high Federal priority, the capture of the South Carolina city where the Civil War began (this includes the failed assault of the black 54th Massachusetts on Fort Wagner that was the climax of the film "Glory" and the story of the experimental Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley); and (5) Battle on Two Coasts takes us to the summer of 1864 when the Federal navy had only two principal objectives left in the coastal war, the Confederates' last major ports, Fort Fisher on the entrance to the Cape Fear River and the port of Wilmington, North Carolina, and Mobile Bay on the Gulf Coast.

By the end of Chaitin's volume the coast war is over and from Virginia down to Florida and westward along the Gulf to the Missippii not a single important Confederate port remained open. Chaitin makes his case for how the stranglehold on the Confederate port ultimately impacted the outcome of the war, even if the Civil War was ultimately decided by inland battles between great armies. "The Coastal War" is richly illustrated with historic photographs, paintings, and illustrations, as well as contemporary shots of naval munitions and other objects. Taken together with "The Blockade," Chaitain has put together a concise yet comprehensive two volume look at the naval aspects of the Civil War and gets well beyond the pivotal first clash of the ironclads.

Currently much of Northern Virginia gets their drinking water from the Potomac River. For several years they've been trying to extend the intake pipe into the middle of the River where the water is less muddy and requires less treatment. The State of Maryland has fought them in court every step of the way because Maryland owns to the high-water mark on the Virginia side. The hard feelings between these two States goes back to the time they were Colonies and this book traces the history all the way through. This book is about the oyster wars which began in the late 1800s and extended up until the 1960s. You may find it hard to believe but as late as 1959 Maryland Oyster Patrol Boats fired on an unarmed boat near the Virginia shore which was dredging oysters and murdered one of the crewman. And I don't mean one bullet but a storm of bullets because they didn't have a Maryland license. The author, John Wennersten, did a nice job of research on a subject that wasn't heavily documented. He points out how rugged and plain mean a number of these early watermen were. Before the time of engines they would Shanghai vagrants in New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Once they got them on the boats on the Chesapeake Bay that's where they stayed until the end of the season. In a number of cases the end of the season would find them getting knocked into the water by the sail rigging...it was called "paid at the boom" because the skipper wouldn't have to pay them if they drowned. The book is only about 130 pages of easy reading with some nice photos and sketches of the early oyster and patrol boats. It's a must of anyone wanting to acquire a thorough knowledge of life on the Chesapeake Bay.

An interesting naration of a part of Maryland and Virginia's history few people know about. The book comes across as a little sensationalist when read. However, given the topic, and many of the turn of the century newspaper sources, this would be hard for any author to avoid. (I had the same thoughts when reading Michener's fictional accounts in "Chesapeake", yet these events really did happen.) If you are interested in the culture and history of the Chesapeake this is quite an enjoyable read that will add context to other readings.

This book is a very good ECONOMIC history of Colonial America, focusing on the Chesapeake Bay region. The "down-side" is that it reduces all the colorful, interesting, tragic events of that period (pirates, revolution, famine, slavery) down to their impact upon the economy (imports, exports, balance of trade, etc.) and could be very "dry" reading. The book tends to focus on maritime issues, simply because that was the major transportation mode at that time. If you are interested in Colonial America, particularly the Chesapeake Bay region, I recommend reading this book simply to give you an understanding of the economic forces that had so great a role in shaping this region.

This is one of the best books on the eastern seaboard from the earliest of times. Easy to read and terrific research. If you are writing anything about this time and place, this book is a necessity.

This book (ISBN 0-9613008-2-5) is actually titled "Bay Tripper Chesapeake Bay Travel Guide Volume II Western Shore" and is not to be confused with the other edition "Volume I Eastern Shore".

This book is a handy guide to have with you as you explore the many small towns along the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. The book lists attractions, lodging, restaurants, and more for each town.

You don't have to be from the Cheseapeake Bay area to appreciate Chadwick the Crab and his friends. They are delightful and your kids will never know these books are educational. Yet, they are. The story of Chadwick teaches us about creatures in and around the bay, what they eat, the dangers they face etc. Help bring up environmentally sensitive kids by reading about Chadwick, Toulouse, etc. Oh, and crabs CAN be cuddly!